Ambient light sensors are employed in a variety of different applications, some of which are described in “Intelligent Sensing with Ambient Light and Optical Proximity Sensors—Application Reference Guide,” published by Avago Technologies™ in 2008, and hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Ambient light sensors find widespread use in mobile and computing devices such as mobile handsets, smart phones, PDA, notebooks, and desktop PCs.
Known ambient light sensors are generally incapable, however, of determining the direction of light falling thereon. What is needed is an ambient light sensor capable of determining the direction of ambient light falling thereon, as well as an ambient light sensor that features improved performance, lower cost, increased manufacturability and improved reliability.